5th Week Activities

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5th Week in the Classroom:

Materials Needed:
  • Paper or cloth bag containing at least 4 items (could be anything
  • Lined paper for letter-writing
  • Envelope for each student (optional)
  • Peer Coaching Rubric

1. Objects in a Bag:
  • Fill a bag with 4 objects (can be random i.e. stone, rope, ring, piece of cloth, etc)
  • Share these objects with the students.
  • Ask them to choose one of the objects thinking about how it connects/relates to a character in their story
  • Write how this object connects to that character. Why is it important to that character. What's the story behind this object?
  • Ask if any students would like to share their descriptions/explanations with the class. Share them in order by object.
  • If not everyone has time (or wants) to share their writings, ask students to pair up and listen to each others' writings.
  • Then ask the partner to pick out a line, phrase or word that stands out in the writing to share with the whole class.
  • Teacher writes down the words or phrases on chart paper to document.

2. Peer Coaching:


3. Virginia Reel (from Children Tell Stories, p. 41):
  • Ask students to form two equal lines, facing each other.
  • Establish a loud signal (wind chimes, drum) that students can hear over their storytelling
  • One line tells their story to the partner facing them in the other line, simultaneously until the signal is hear (1 or 2 minutes - teacher gauges). The listening line does just that: Listen.
  • When the signal is sounded again, switch roles. Listeners become the tellers until the signal sounds for them to stop.
  • Then the first person in one line moves to the end so that everyone has a new partner.
  • The game continues. Tellers have a choice: they can either start their story from the beginning or continue where they left off.
  • This game helps build confidence in telling their stories, while having fun.

5th Week in the Library:

Materials Needed:
  • chart paper and markers for brainstorming Elements of a Story list

1. Ending Your Story:
  • Ask students to sit in a circle on the rug.
  • Ask them to think about where the story ends, what do you see, how would you describe it?
  • Is it informative, humorous, mysterious, peaceful, dangerous, peaceful, etc?
  • Endings are difficult because you’re back in the room and are your self. Back to reality. People don’t need to know you’re done. DON’T say THE END!
  • So what do we do instead? In English, we tend to slow down and drop in pitch when we end a story.
  • Eyes stay or linger where they are and then when they chance focus, that signals the end. Also sustain the gesture.
  • Ask students to turn to someone next to them and practice saying their last line. Practice as a whole class so students feel comfortable practicing. Signal for the other student in the pair to practice his/her ending.
  • Then ask each student to stand up and individually say their last line, being sure to slow down, lower their pitch and sustain gesture and eye contact for a moment before changing focus to signal the end.

2. Shaping Elements of a Story:
  • Brainstorm the shaping elements of telling a story. Lead students to a list that incorporates these elements:
  1. VOICE: pacing/pause, volume, tone and pitch. Tone is the most important of the 4 elements of voice! It’s in the variety of all 4 that gets the attention of your story
  2. CHOICE OF WORDS
  3. MOVEMENT : gesture & posture
  4. FACIAL EXPRESSION
  5. EYE CONTACT
  6. AUDIENCE: awareness, space (proximity to audience & within room to be sure everyone sees you). Don’t move for no reason – you must have purpose!
  7. STILLNESS & SILENCE
  8. TRANSITIONS – especially between scenes are often the places where you forget.
  • Notice that shaping elements are mostly NONVERBAL!

3. Isolating the Voice Elements:
  • Ask everyone to recites the nursery rhyme, Jack & Jill: very monotonous sounding
  • Model Pacing: Jack goes up (speak slow) Jack falls (speak quickly) Jill tumbles (speak even faster)
  • Model Volume: Jack goes up (speak softly), Jack falls (speak loudly), Jill tumbles (speak ever louder or softer)
  • Now combine these two elements and try reciting again
  • Tone is governed by who tells it: Practice tone using these examples: Jack’s mom on the phone with the doctor, Jack’s dad is tired of hearing about his kids’ antics. The neighbor children who can’t stand them.
  • Pitch was already used in ending the story, but if time, model Jack using a lower voice and Jill a higher pitched voice